Thursday, November 3, 2011

Did Adams and Crandall endorse Jerry Lewis?

Well, it looks like Kirk Adams and Rich Crandall have endorsed Jerry Lewis in his run against Russell Pearce. Or have they? What they have done is tip-toe the fine line of the "non-endorsement" - bashing Pearce supporters but falling short of throwing their support behind Lewis.

Yesterday, Kirk Adams attacked Pearce supporters for their tactics. Setting aside for a moment the irony of Adams saying "Contrast and negative campaigning will always be part of politics" after just completeing a push poll against his opponent, the most interesting thing is that Adams attacks Pearce's supporters without attacking Pearce. Similarly, he defends Jerry Lewis - but doesn't offer up an endorsement.

Previously, Senator Rich Crandall took a similar approach decrying dirty politics in an editorial but came short of endorsing Lewis. However, yesterday, he complimented Adams on his stance and then grouped himself in with other who have and have not endorsed Lewis. Maybe this new aggressive tone is because there is a potential that Crandall may have to go head to head with Pearce.

So the question remains, did Adams and Crandall endorse Jerry Lewis? That's the beauty of the "non-endorsement." It allows them to sit on the fence and play to both sides.

Both Adams and Crandall have a problem. They both tout a track record on immigration that relies heavily on the passage of SB1070. On his website, Adams says, "As Speaker of the House, I passed SB 1070 and made resources available to defend it in the courts." On his website, Crandall says, "I am very disappointed that the Obama Administration decided to sue Arizona to stop SB 1070" and goes on to talk about how he will defend the bill.

Who was the champion of SB1070? Russell Pearce.

So, Adams and Crandall don't want to risk their immigration cred so instead, they decry "dirty politics" and other platitudes which help Lewis but in their mind "technically" keep them neutral in the race.